A Place to Belong
by half-goddess-Katia
Summary: Had anyone told him a year ago that he would be a part of the relationship he'd known Ankh and Eiji had shared, he would never have believed it yet here he was.


**Disclaimer: **I do not own Kamen Rider OOO, and I am making no money off of this. This is solely for my own and other's entertainment.

**AN: **This is, again, assuming a happy ending had happened (as described in the story). This was interesting since we never got a whole lot of character development on Shingo, so I hope you guys enjoy the way I portrayed him

**Warnings:** Fluffy threesome (Ankh/Eiji/Shingo) with implied sex. Also a couple of spoilers for the series (nothing major though)

_**A Place to Belong**_

Shingo sighed as he felt himself slowly begin to wake-up, knowing that he wouldn't be able to get back to sleep once he was awake but not yet willing to leave the comfort of where he lay. Opening his eyes, the cop couldn't help but smile at the two males still sleeping next to him. He was still using Eiji's shoulder as a pillow, and he could feel the younger brunette's arm where it was still draped across his back to lay on his hip. Across from him, he could see Ankh lying in a similar position to the one he was in, ear pressed to the former Rider's heart and arm draped across Eiji's stomach to brush lightly against Shingo's own arm.

Shingo's smile broadened a bit as he watched his two lovers, both obviously still fast asleep. Had anyone told him a year ago that he would be a part of the relationship he'd known Ankh and Eiji had shared, he would never have believed it – would've thought it was impossible for anyone to be a part of what those two had managed to build – yet here he was. It hadn't been easy, but then again very little about the past year had been easy.

A year ago, Eiji and Ankh – who had still been using his body at the time – had finally been able to seal away Dr. Maki using the hidden power of the King's Medals, and the younger brunette, wielding that power, hand somehow managed to give Ankh his own form – essentially turning the blonde into a human as, it seems, that was the form the blonde himself most desired. They had sealed the Medals afterwards, at least all those that remained, so that no one with Dr. Maki's or the former King's ambitions could use them again. Being able to do all of it had been nothing short of a miracle, and they all knew it.

What came after hadn't been quite so difficult, though they all suspected that Kougami had been the reason it hadn't been more difficult than it had been. He knew that the man had provided some excuse to his superiors about his year-long absence – some half-truth about being "recruited" to help fight the monsters after he'd shown his merit in confronting them the first time – so Shingo had been able to return with minimal fuss. He also suspected that Kougami had been behind the package Eiji had received that had held legal documents for Ankh – everything needed to prove that the blonde male was a citizen of Japan and had always existed – along with a letter addressed to the former Rider that had left a strange expression on the brunette's face after he'd read it. Shingo and Ankh both still wondered about that even now, but Eiji had just shaken his head at the time and muttered something about it being a small world – Shingo personally wondered if Kougami had told the younger brunette they were related somehow, meaning Eiji would've _also_ been a descendent of the King, which wouldn't have been _that_ surprising considering they were both from influential families but kept his speculations to himself. Then they mainly had to get Ankh used to being human, though at least the blonde had had a year while possessing his body to start to adjust – there had been slight differences, but it hadn't been as radical as it could've been.

After all that, though, it had been almost ridiculously easy to fall into a routine. Shingo started stopping by Cous Coussier almost everyday without even realizing it. Most days he stopped by to pick Hina up on his way back from work, sometimes coming in to just sit and wait if she got off after he did, and, more often than not, he'd even stop by on his days off – the place had become so familiar to him while Ankh had possessed him that it just felt like a second home. Shingo would sometimes see Ankh when he stopped by, though the blonde remained characteristically distant, and he usually saw Eiji as the younger brunette went about serving people – though on slower days the former Rider would stop to chat and catch up a bit longer than usual and almost always brought his order out. Shingo got so used to the routine in just a month that, when it changed, he noticed immediately even if he hadn't yet understood what it meant.

It had started, surprisingly enough, with Ankh. On one of his days off, Shingo had stopped by the café a bit before the lunch rush, settling down at his normal table as he waited for either Hina or Eiji to come by. When he had seen Ankh across the room, he had simply smiled and nodded at the blonde before turning his attention elsewhere, figuring the former Greeed had simply come down to get something to eat and would eat somewhere by himself as he always did. Shingo certainly hadn't expected the blonde to sit down in the seat across from him, silently glaring as if daring the cop – or anyone else for that matter – to ask him why. Figuring discretion would do him more good than questions, Shingo had just smiled in return and ignored the odd looks they were getting from everyone over the change. Well, the odd looks they were getting from everyone other than Eiji, that is, who simply smiled when he came to take Shingo's order and again when he brought it and something for Ankh out to the table as if this was an everyday thing. After that, Ankh joined him everyday he came in to eat, and Shingo never questioned it, simply enjoying the silent company.

The next changed happened two weeks later, this time initiated by Eiji. Shingo had come in to wait on Hina, and, as usual, Ankh moved from where he'd been before to sit across from him. What he didn't expect was for Eiji to come by a few minutes later with the food ready for the both of them, having correctly chosen what the other two males wanted without asking. He hadn't thought anything of it at first, but it happened every time he came in. Sometimes there was even a bit extra that he wouldn't find on his receipt, and, when he asked the younger brunette about it, Eiji would just smile and evade the question masterfully while refusing to let him pay for the extra food. When it had happened several times – proving that it hadn't just been an accident – Shingo started watching both Eiji and Ankh more closely, wondering what was going on.

As a result, it hadn't been entirely surprising when Eiji had asked to speak with him for a moment somewhere out of the way. Shingo had simply agreed and followed the younger brunette, all the while wondering if he might finally get some kind of explanation for what was going on. He hadn't even really been surprised to find Ankh leaning against the wall just outside the backdoor of the café, obviously waiting for them. What had surprised him, however, was what Eiji had pulled him aside to talk about.

Eiji had managed to half-way stutter his way through an explanation of what had been going on for the past two months when Ankh, obviously losing patience with his partner's embarrassment and inability to get to the point, cut in and, very plainly and with only the slightest tinge of pink to his face, asked Shingo if he would like to join he and Eiji in their relationship both in bed and out. Had his brain not short-circuited a bit at that – it hadn't even been anywhere _on_ the list of things he was expecting – he would've been much more amused by the indignant way Eiji had squawked Ankh's name, obviously not expecting the blonde to cut in or be quite so straightforward about a topic that he was sure would have most people wondering at the other two's sanity in asking about it. As it was, Shingo had just stared at the two as they began to argue – like an old married couple his mind supplied helpfully – for a few minutes before he broke in, putting a halt to the argument as he smiled and said yes.

Shingo sometimes still had trouble believing that he was a part of what Ankh and Eiji had formed before he'd been fully a part of things. It had seemed like, even with all the fighting they had done, nothing and no one could possibly be as much a part of each other's thought processes and lives as those two had been a part of each other's, and Shingo had always been, though he had never allowed himself to think too far into it, a bit jealous of what they shared, expecting to always be a part but still on the outskirts much like most of the others were.

Despite everything though, they had invited him to be a part of it all. He hadn't understood why at first, but when he finally asked Eiji after a month of trying to figure it out himself, the younger brunette's answer had been simple.

"Because you've always been a part of it," Eiji had answered, as if it was the most obvious thing in the world, and perhaps it should've been because he suddenly understood what Eiji hadn't said and more about the meaning behind everything they had done before. He had been a part of Ankh and Eiji's relationship from the very beginning, though admittedly an unwitting participant as it was due to the fact that Ankh had been using his body as a host. He had been there with them through everything they had done that had inevitably pulled them together, and they had tried to show it to him in their own ways, Ankh by choosing to be beside him rather than alone – as he had been wont to do when Eiji had been working before – and Eiji by remembering what he wanted and adding those little touches to the meals he'd bring out – his own way of showing he cared by showing more concern. Shingo _had_ always been a part of it, even if he hadn't realized it himself.

And, in the end, he hadn't had anything to worry about, he managed to fit right in with them and find his own niche in the now three-way relationship with little effort. Ankh had always been a bit more stand-offish, a bit rougher around the edges when it came to human interaction and a bit hot-tempered. Eiji had always been one who adjusted himself to fulfill whatever part those around him needed while neglecting himself, yet he was just as stubborn in what he wanted as the former Greeed was. Shingo found his own role in being able to help balance them both, helping Eiji make sure Ankh adjusted properly to the life he now lead while helping Ankh make sure Eiji didn't completely neglect himself in his efforts to help others – finding a balance that suited them all. It had lead to surprisingly fewer arguments between the two more stubborn personalities, and it worked for them.

Everything, admittedly, hadn't been quite as easy as the beginning of the relationship had been, and it had certainly been interesting when Hina had found out. He had known that his younger sister had always held out some hope that Eiji would eventually look at her the way she looked at him despite the fact that she knew he had been in a relationship with Ankh. She had, thankfully, taken it in stride, mostly glad that the three most important people in her life at the moment were happy, especially since she knew that two of the three tended to be more concerned with other's happiness than their own. Then they had to find a balance between his job and the time he spent with Hina – whom he still didn't like to leave alone to often – and the time he spent with Ankh and Eiji. It had been an interesting juggling act at first, up until Hina had invited both Eiji and Ankh over while telling Shingo that he was being ridiculous - as he, Eiji, and Ankh had tried to avoid doing too much in front of her in order to maybe help the adjustment be easier for Hina.

And then things seemed to just fall into place. They all fell into another sort of pattern where they alternated where they spent time and, once it came to that, where they slept together. It had been ten months since then, and they had had their ups and downs just as any other couple would. Eiji still sometimes went off for a week or two – though never more – if he heard of something going on that he could help with, and sometimes Ankh and Shingo would go with him – though after the first time they made sure that they wouldn't be "roughing it" as Ankh especially didn't take to the nomadic way of traveling the younger brunette enjoyed. If they didn't, then Ankh tended to spend more time away from the café unless Shingo was there as well. Ankh still ate far too many ice pops – though even with a human body of his own he never seemed to show any effects – and didn't get along with most of the others outside of those he'd been around during that first year. Shingo still sometimes put himself in danger on his job – it was part and parcel to being a detective – which resulted in Ankh and Eiji both fussing over him in their own ways, often teaming up with Hina to make sure he didn't overdo it especially if he got hurt. It had been easier and harder by turns, and Shingo wouldn't trade it for the world.

Smiling once more, Shingo laid his head back down and closed his eyes. He may not be able to fall asleep again, but he could certainly enjoy this moment of peace before they had to get up and face the day. In the end, though, at least he knew he could always return to where they were now, a place he found to belong.


End file.
